When I was in rehab a few months ago, someone who listened to my brief synopsis of my life story said these words to me, “You deserve peace.” Since then, I have made that statement a part of my daily affirmations to myself. I tell myself, “I deserve peace.” And then I smile, and I go for a nature walk or work on my memoir. For the second time in my life, I find myself fleeing a violent situation in which I was married to a man who treated me harshly and physically assaulted me on more than one occasion. I have realized that I continued in relationship patterns that did not serve me or my life’s purpose, but only harmed me. Sometimes we indulge in these patterns because this behavior feels comfortable and safe to us and sometimes, we are codependent in relationships, and we don’t really understand what that means. And sometimes as Iyanla Vanzant once said, “Your picker is off.” The most important relationship you need to focus on is the one with yourself. When you discover all of those cracks and flaws within yourself, learn from them, grow from understanding more about yourself. Right now, life for me is beautiful. I hope the same for you. Your happiness is your responsibility, so be active in being happy. If you’re miserable, do your best to find out exactly why and eliminate that in life which is contributing to your misery. I am reading an awesome book this month called, “The Body Keeps the Score.” It is about how trauma affects the brain, mind and body. I will be sharing what I’m learning in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned and be happy.